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1.0 Why

2.0 What

WasteDefined

References/Sources

Learning to See Waste

“THEMOSTDANGEROUSKIND

OFWASTEISTHEWASTEWE

DONOTRECOGNIZE.”| Shigeo Shingo |

A collaborative presentation from over a dozen experienced Lean IPD practitioners.

© 2015 Lean Construction Institute

LEARNINGTOSEEWASTE | 2

1.0 Why

Wastecanbedefinedasanytaskthatisnotvalueadded.

Valueadded tasksare tasks thatmeet the following threecriteria:

• Theendcustomercaresaboutit.• The task changes the shape or form of a product or

service.• Youcandoitrightthefirsttime.

Studieshaveshownthatapproximately70%oftheactivitiesperformedinthedesignandconstructionindustryarenon-valueaddorwaste.Ifwecanlearntoseewaste,wehavetheabilitytodramaticallyaffectthisratio.

Wasteisanassessmentaboutanythingthatinterfereswithourcapacitytotakecareofwhatwewanttotakecareof.Fixwhatbothersyou!

SevenmajorwasteswereoriginallydefinedbyTaiichiOhnotodescribewasteinmassproduction.Theseoriginatefromthemanufacturingworldbutcanbeappliedtoanyprocess.Inthelate90saneighthformofwastebegantobeformallyrecognized.

There are several acronyms to remember what thesewastesare.OneofthemorecommononesisTIMWOOD,orTIMWOOD(S).AnotherAcronymisDOWNTIME.Theacro-nymsarenotimportant,thatisjustawaytoeasilyremem-berthecategories.Whatisimportantislearningtorecog-nizewasteinprocesses.Thesetermswillopenyoureyestowasteinanyprocess.

Transportation

Unnecessarymovementbypeople,equipment,ormaterialfrom process to process. This can include administrativeworkaswellasphysicalactivities.

In Design/ Construction this could include moving equip-ment ormaterialsonaproject site. It couldalso includecomplicated electronic file transfers of information duringdesignandconstruction.

2.0 WhatJapaneseLesson

Muda:anyactivitythatiswasteordoesnotaddvalue

Mura:Unevenessinoperations

Muri:Overburdeningofpeopleorequipment

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LEARNINGTOSEEWASTE | 3

Inventory

Productquantitiesthatgobeyondsupportingthe immedi-ateneed.Inventorymayincluderawmaterials,work-inprog-ress,orfinishedgoods.

Decisionscanalsobecomeawasteofinventory.Ifweforceorendusers,owners,andteammemberstomakedecisionsbeforethelastresponsiblemoment,wearecreatinginven-tory.Astechnologychanges,materialselectionsarediscon-tinued,etc., wearequitepossiblycreatingreworkforthewholeteamasaresult.

Motion

Unnecessarymovement of people or equipmentwithin aprocess.

A traditionalRFI isagoodexampleof this. ARequest forInformationisquitesimplythat,onecustomeronaprojectaskingforclarificationfromanotherwithasingleprocessforgettingthatinformation.Becauseofprotocoloftenassoci-atedwiththeRFI,ithastogothroughmanystepstogettothecustomerthatneedstoanswerthequestion.Thesimplerequestofananswerhasunnecessarymotiontosolveit.

Waiting

Timewhenwork-in-process iswaiting for thenext step inproduction.

Waitingcannotalwaysbeavoided,butwecanplanforwait-ing. The teamneeds anunderstandingof decisiontimes,inspectiontimes,city/statereviewtimesandcanplanvalueaddedtasksduringthewaittimes.

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LEARNINGTOSEEWASTE | 4

Over Processing

Moreprocessingthan isneededtoproducewhatthecus-tomerrequires.Perhapsthehardesttodetectandeliminate.

Weneedtoconstantlyaskthequestionsaboutvaluetotheendcustomer tounderstand this. Areweprovidingmorethanwhatourcustomerneeds?Areweoverdetailing,overdesigning, or over thinking our work based on what theend customer wants and what other team members areproviding?

Over Production

Makingsomethingbeforeitistrulyneeded.Thisisparticu-larlyseriusformofwastebecauseitleadstootherformsofwaste.

Duringprojectsitmightseemadvantageoustoworkaheadof thegroup. Ifyouhave thestaffandthetime,whynotpushforward? Oftentimesthis isamistakeandmaycostyou more time. Imagine if you had a curtain wall tradecontractordetail theirportionofworkbefore theexteriordesignwasapproved.Theriskofreworkusuallyisnotworthitintheend.

Defects

Productionthatisscraporrequiresrework.

Errors andOmissions, Constructionerrors, all fall into thiscategory.Wewillnoteliminateallerrors,butwecancoor-dinate to reduce them and communicate tominimize theimpactsofanythatoccur.

Skills(ifusingTIMWOODSacronym)Non-utilized Resources (IfusingDOWNTIMEacronym)

Neglectingtoseekinputfromallsourcesandutilizetalentandresourcesavailable.

This can be common on traditional projects because theexpertsatasubjectareusuallynot inthemeetingswhereproblemsarediscussed. Changethisbydiscussingprojectissuesattheirsourceandinvolveallreleventstakeholders.

Wasteisdisrespectfultopeople.Allofthewastesdescribedhereinterferewiththeindividual’sworkenvironment.Wasteconsumesresourcesandworkers’skills.Itistheenemyofgoodconstruction.

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